Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify – if you’ve spent any time researching how to start a website, you’ve probably hit the same wall everyone does. Every platform has fans who swear by it, every comparison article covers the same ground, and somehow you’re still no closer to knowing which one is actually right for you.

That’s because there isn’t a single “best” website platform. There’s only the best platform for what you’re specifically trying to build – a blog, an online shop, a portfolio, a business site – and for how much control, budget, and technical involvement you actually want.

Someone who wants to sell products needs something very different from someone who wants to write and monetise a blog with display ads, and both of those are different again from someone who just wants a simple, good-looking site up quickly with minimal fuss. Reading every review on the internet won’t resolve that for you – it just adds more opinions to weigh up.

This quiz is built to shortcut that decision. Answer a few quick questions about what you’re building, your budget, and how hands-on you want to be, and you’ll get a platform recommendation matched to your specific situation – not just whichever platform happens to be the most talked about this year.

It takes about a minute, and you don’t need to know anything technical to take it.

Frequently asked questions

How does the “where to start your website” quiz work?
You’ll answer a short set of questions covering what kind of website you want to build, your budget, whether you want to sell anything, and how comfortable you are with anything technical. Based on your answers, the quiz matches you to the website platform best suited to that combination of needs, rather than giving everyone the same generic answer.

Is the quiz free to take?
Yes. There’s no cost to take the quiz and no sign-up required to see your result.

I have absolutely no experience building a website – is this quiz still for me?
Yes, if anything it’s especially for you. The questions are about what you want your site to do and how involved you want to be, not about anything technical. Several of the platforms this quiz can recommend are specifically built for people with zero prior experience.

Does the quiz just recommend whichever platform pays the most in affiliate commission?
No. The recommendation is based on how well each platform’s actual strengths – ease of use, cost, flexibility, ecommerce capability, long-term ownership – match what you told us about your specific goals. Some links on this site are affiliate links, which is disclosed wherever it applies, but that doesn’t influence which platform the quiz points you towards.

What if the platform I’m recommended turns out not to be right later on?
That happens, and it’s genuinely common for a site’s needs to change as it grows – a simple blog might eventually need ecommerce, or a site started on an all-in-one platform might later need the flexibility of self-hosted WordPress. Moving platforms later is always possible, even if it takes some extra work. The quiz is about giving you the right starting point, not a decision you’re locked into forever.

How is this different from reading a “best website builder” article?
A best-of article has to speak to everyone at once, so it tends to end with several options and a shrug. This quiz is built around your specific answers, so the result reflects what you’re actually trying to build rather than a generic ranking that tries to cover every possible use case.

I already know I want WordPress, or I already know I want to sell products – should I still take the quiz?
If you already know the platform category you need, you might get more value from a more specific quiz instead – the WordPress hosting quiz if you know WordPress is right for you, for example. This quiz is most useful when you’re still deciding between fundamentally different approaches to building your site.